WWE Rumors on John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley; New Day Want Young Bucks Match

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

John Cena's WrestleMania Status Uncertain

Even though it's been assumed John Cena would be involved in WrestleMania 39, his film schedule may not make it possible.

Katherine Tulick of Variety reported on Tuesday that Cena is set to star in Peter Farrelly's upcoming movie Ricky Stanicky, with filming taking place in Australia throughout February and March.

WrestleMania 39 will take place over two days on April 1 and 2. If filming lasts through all of March, Cena wouldn't be able to appear on a single Raw or SmackDown to build a match.

Logan Paul previously said he wanted a match with Cena on the biggest show of the year. It seems pretty clear based on the results at the Royal Rumble and follow-up on Raw that Paul will be feuding with Seth Rollins going into the biggest show of the year.

The other option for Cena that WWE has been teasing dating back to the summer is Austin Theory. The United States champion has continued to throw out little teases during his promos hinting at something with the 16-time world champion.

WWE doesn't need to advertise Cena to move tickets for WrestleMania. The show has already set a company record for the largest gate in the history of WrestleMania.

It's not without precedent that WWE brings in a big star for a WrestleMania match without having them appear on any television leading up to the show. The Undertaker defeated Bray Wyatt at the 2015 show.

If Cena can fit a WrestleMania appearance into his schedule, he will probably be there.

Lesnar vs. Lashley Targeted For Elimination Chamber

WWE has been teasing a Brock Lesnar-Bobby Lashley feud for weeks, with things coming to a head at the Royal Rumble when the All Mighty eliminated the Beast from the 30-man match.

Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Danny Wolstanholme of Wrestling Inc.), Lesnar is scheduled to be on the card for Elimination Chamber.

While his opponent at this point hasn't been confirmed, the anticipation is that it will be Lashley.

If a Lesnar-Lashley clash happens on Feb. 18, it opens up a few possibilities for WrestleMania. WWE could extend their feud six weeks to have it culminate on the Grandest Stage of the Them All.

There were a lot of teases during and after the men's Rumble match about a Lesnar-Gunther showdown. The intercontinental champion seemed to indicate he would be interested in that clash happening:

One possibility is adding Gunther to the feud and making it a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania. It's hard to imagine anything more fun than maybe the three strongest people in the company battling it out on the biggest show of the year.

Kofi Kingston Calls Young Bucks Dream Opponent for New Day

The New Day and Young Bucks have been two of the most successful tag teams in wrestling over the past decade, so a match between them would be highly anticipated among fans.

In an interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Kingston said the New Day have "been wanting to have a match" with the Young Bucks for a long time.

Matt and Nick Jackson saw Kingston's answer and responded to it on Twitter:

Of course, it's impossible for a match between the two teams to happen at this point. The New Day are signed to WWE, while the Young Bucks are in AEW.

There have been conflicting reports about the Bucks' contract status, though they could become free agents at some point in late 2023 or early 2024.

If the Young Bucks want to follow Cody Rhodes' path to WWE, they could make the dream a reality. There's no indication they are unhappy in AEW or looking to leave the company, but it will be a topic of speculation until there is a resolution to their contract status.

The New Day have been the most successful stable in WWE in years. It's been unusual to see a group last as long as they have in the company, but it speaks to their overwhelming popularity that WWE's creative team hasn't tried to break them up since they debuted in 2014.

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